


He Walks like A Firebender: Book 1 Water

by Falkyns_Flight



Series: He Walks Like A Firebender [1]
Category: Avatar: The Last Airbender
Genre: Aang raised in firenation, Airbenders survived, Airbending Aang, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Alternate Universe - Pre-Canon, Dysfunctional Family, Fire Nation (Avatar), Fire Nation Royal Family, Gen, Mental Health Issues, Mixed bending families, No iceberg, Not Canon Compliant - The Legend of Korra, Politics, Racism, Spirit World, Team as Family, more to come - Freeform, slow burn relationships
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-03-21
Updated: 2019-08-15
Packaged: 2019-11-26 02:20:39
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 5
Words: 11,927
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18174545
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Falkyns_Flight/pseuds/Falkyns_Flight
Summary: Since the arrival of Sozin's Comet four Avatars have been killed. Tenzin, Korra, Qui, and Kuzon. Not one of them mastered all the elements, not one learned to control the Avatar State, and not one landed a crippling blow to the Fire Nation. Now the fifth Avatar has been born, the next Avatar of Air. Born with a mixed heritage of both Fire Nation and Air Nomads, eleven-year-old Aang must take it upon himself to end this war once and for all. Not for the world, but for the good of the nation that he considers his home. But can he make headway against them, when four other Avatars have failed? Can he earn the support and reignite the belief in the Avatar after so many years of failures?Non-Korra Compliant. Co-written by Ink-Spillz





	1. The Next Avatar

3rd person

The only light in the room was the roaring furnace in front of the throne. Joo Wan swallowed nervously as he looked about the imposing place. This was his first time setting foot in the palace as a sage initiate. As such a low ranking member of the sages, he was left with all the dangerous jobs and grunt work. This particular mission was both at the same time, deliver news to Fire Lord Azulon about the Avatar.

He wondered how the sages managed to expand if they always gave tasks like this to initiates.

The flickering red fire cast dancing shadows along the tall pillars that supported the high ceiling of the throne room. The effect was strengthened by the waving tapestries that hung in front of the walls, giving the entire room a feeling of constant motion. At one time the throne room had been well lit, with murals of spirits and dragons; but since Avatar Roku destroyed the original throne room, almost one hundred and fifty years ago, it had turned into an intimidation technique. The effect was even further strengthened as the fire cast shadows upon the Fire Lord himself leaving his face in darkness.

Joo Wan quickly crossed the distance between the entrance and the place where he knew the Fire Lord would be able to see him and promptly fell to his knees. Hopefully, Azulon wouldn't take out his anger on a teenager who had barely chosen his path.

"You must be the messenger the sages said would be coming," Azulon said. The man's voice was firm, but age cracked it at the edges.

"Yes Fire Lord," Joo Wan said. What else should he say? What else could he say that wouldn't end badly?

"Speak boy, what is the message your masters wanted to deliver so directly?" Azulon snapped.

"The… The Avatar…" Joo Wan stumbled before coughing and trying again.

"The Avatar of fire, we didn't find him in time," Joo Wan could feel himself shaking. He felt sick to his stomach. He was going to die, wasn't he? What other option was there? The Fire Lord would have to take his anger out on someone. Here he was, the only person in the room when the worst news imaginable would be told.

"You didn't find him… in time? What is the boy already at one of the poles learning how to waterbend? I can easily send an armada to catch him after he leaves. He's only what? Sixteen? He won't be a fully realized Avatar for some time,"

"He won't ever be a fully realized Avatar," Joo Wan quietly corrected. It was hard to think that the Avatar was the same age as him. Well, had been the same age as him.

"Yes, I suppose finding an Airbending master is out of the question, the last two Avatar's were never able to either after all," Azulon mused before turning his attention back to Joo Wan.

"But why is that such terrible news? We killed the Avatar of water after the Avatar of air died during the comet. And we captured the avatar of earth and had her fight for us… this avatar will be the same. Unless there is something else?" Azulon asked. Joo Wan winced. Here it was. The moment he had been fearing.

"My Fire Lord that wasn't what I meant. The Avatar of Fire is dead. Our troops surrounded him in a village to the southwest, and he turned his bending… on himself," there was silence, and Joo Wan finished the sentence.

"The fourth avatar since the passing of the comet is dead,"

* * *

11 years later Southern Fire Nation: Aang's POV

Grabbing the last bag, I peek over my shoulder. The steady breaths of my family reassure me that they are all asleep, unaware of what I'm about to do. Creeping on tip-toe, I ease my way out of the tent, careful not to allow a cold draft in for fear of alerting someone. Looking back and forth I take in the sea of tents in front of me, flags fluttering weakly in the shifting summer air. I sigh, the silence assures to me that the entire circus is asleep.

I don't wait for that to change. I bolt, weaving in and out of the shadows, well out of sight of torches. It is only a minute before I arrive at Appa's stall. Despite how late at night it is, the sky bison is quietly munching on some straw I had left out for him earlier. He looks up from his midnight snack.

"Hey buddy," I say, dropping the sack to the ground with all the others. I make my way towards him, easily avoiding the piles of supplies strewn across the ground.

"Well, I'm ready. How about you?" I ask. He groans, pushing into my touch and nearly knocking me over. I push myself forward, surrounding myself with fur and the smell of straw.

"I know, me neither. We've got to though, you know how things are. It's my destiny…" I grab fistfuls of his fur.

"Spirits I'm scared,"

I pull away, starting to sift through the bags of supplies trying to find Appa's saddle under the mess I had piled around it. Finally, I spotted the familiar black, oiled leather. Grinning, I threw my arms up, willing the air to clear the saddle from the pile. From there I smoothly shifted it onto Appa's back.

The saddle had been a gift from my family for my tenth birthday, the year we assumed that Appa had finished growing. It covered most of Appa's upper back but still allowed him to be flexible. It had iron fastenings to attach ropes to, two straps to fit between each set of legs and a tall rim in the front. It was on that ridge that the crowning glory of Appa's saddle was found. It was a picture in the leather of several sky bison flying together.

Appa's saddle was my prized possession and for a good reason. It was the most expensive item I owned, it was almost the most expensive item in the whole circus.

Taking a deep breath, I grabbed the straps on one side and slid under Appa. His leathery underbelly was soft and sensitive. I tickled it, causing him to snort and shift. I laughed and buckled both the belts.

"Aang, what are you doing?" A familiar voice asked, causing me to freeze. For a long moment I didn't move, still hidden by Appa's legs.

There was a pause, then a sigh.

"Even if you don't come out I know you're here. Guess I'll just sleep on Appa tonight, at least that way I know no one is trying to steal him,"

"I'm coming out," I muttered, sliding out from under Appa to glare at the owner of the voice. My older sister, Dawa, smiled, leaning against one of the tentpoles.

Dawa was eighteen, six years older than me. While she had similar features to me, hazel eyes and a rounded face she had gained the height that the fire nation was known for along with our father's bending.

She didn't say anything as I stood there, watching her. Taking a deep breath, I sighed.

"Are you here to stop me?" I asked. A brief flash of emotion passed over her face, but she said nothing. There was another beat of silence.

"You're not here to stop me," I realized. Dawa looked away.

"Even if I tried to stop you it wouldn't do anything, you'd just go again another day," She said, forcing a laugh.

"So I figured I might as well help you pack… you've always been hopeless at it," She glanced at the pile of bags and materials strewn across the floor, causing me to blush. She was right of course.

"Let me take a look," Dawa sighed, striding across the rough dirt ground. She peeked into a few bags here and there, casually tossing them into two piles. When she was done, one was much smaller than the other.

"There," she hummed, quickly grabbing the three bags full of dried fruit and berries and tossing them onto Appa's saddle. I shook my head and dumped the remaining bags on the floor. It reminded me of when we had to purge any extra things I had picked up during my time in a city. Dawa was always the one to help me choose what things I needed and what things I didn't. She noticed the red fabric and raised an eyebrow.

"You're formal garb? Really Aang? Do you think that you're going to be attending fancy fire festivals while trying to find bending masters?" she asked. I blushed but took the outfit, carefully folding it and placing it on top of the pile of bags that I was no longer taking with me.

"I guess that should have been obvious huh?" I asked. Dawa just shook her head with a smile.

"It should have been, but this is you, little brother," she grinned and rubbed my head, messing up the short black strands of hair. I pushed her away, laughing.

"Right, well these clothes are good," she said, setting aside the black, brown and grey clothes from my pile along with a few burgundy coloured ones. I frowned.

"Why not any of my orange or red?" I asked, gesturing to a vest and a shirt that were in those colours. Dawa blinked, turning her full attention to me with a confused expression.

"Aang, when you do this… you'll be an enemy of the Fire Nation. Officially at least,"

"No, I'm only the enemy to Ozai and those loyal to him, not that there are many people loyal to that kinslayer," I added, spitting to the side. Just saying the usurper's name gave me a foul taste in my mouth. Dawa closed her eyes, pinching the bridge of her nose like our father often did.

"No Aang. Personally yes, but you will have to fight soldiers. You might even have to kill them. And if you want the support of the other nations… you're going to have to distance yourself from our nation," she sounded so resigned as if there was no other way, which made no sense. Why couldn't people understand that it wasn't the fault of the regular soldier that they were at war? Most soldiers didn't want to fight any more than I did. They had to fight to protect themselves and their families from Ozai's wrath. Once again I was reminded of how none of this would be happening if Iroh had taken the throne as he should have. The war would have been over years ago if the proper Fire Lord had been ruling.

"Why? I know I'm going to have to fight our people but why can't the other nations realize that it's Ozai who's the one in the wrong?" I demanded, picking up my red vest, waves of fire embroidered on it and putting it with the rest of the clothes Dawa had set aside. I met my sister's eyes, daring her to take that vest off of the pile. She merely sighed and looked away.

"I wish you didn't have to go alone," she whispered. I winced. Her sudden change of topic taking me off guard.

"Well, you know me, I'm never really alone," I said. I knew Dawa was feeling guilty about not coming with me. I knew I couldn't bring her though, it wasn't fair. She was supposed to take over the circus after our dad retired. She was also looking for a husband. It would be wrong for me to force her to put that aside for a war that might take until I was an adult to finish. If she didn't find herself a husband in the next five years, she would be considered an old-maid. With the war that wasn't as big of a deal as it had once been. My grandfather had told me that when he was a child if a girl made it to the age where she was considered an old maid most men wouldn't touch her. Now though, there was still a good chance of girls over twenty-five finding husbands. With how many men were at war it just wasn't possible for every girl to find one before she reached that turning point. Besides, back then women didn't work. Nowadays women had every job under the sun having to take up the mantle to replace all the men in the army.

"You know they aren't who I'm talking about," Dawa snapped.

"You can't come with me,"

"I know,"

We were quiet for a moment.

_Come on Aang, you can't just leave her feeling that bad, it's obvious that she's eating herself alive._

_What am I supposed to say? It's not like I have anything that can make her feel better. The last four Avatars all died before they turned forty, and not one mastered more than two elements. I'm only eleven, I might fail too. I won't let her come with me if… if I might die._

I swallowed and looked away.

"Why do you have Appa's horn polish?" She asked. Both of us ignored the crack in her voice at that question. Behind us Appa groaned, feeling the tension in the air.

"Because Appa likes his horns polished," I said. It was true, Appa loved the time that the two of them spent to keep him clean and well groomed, but he particularly loved having his horns shined. Probably the only thing the bison was truly vain about was his long curved horns.

"And you prefer to have a hot bath every other night, but you both are going to be on the road with people chasing after you, you won't have time to polish Appa's horns," Appa huffed causing us to turn towards him.

"Sorry Appa, you know it's true," Dawa added. The bison groaned again and we laughed.

We spent the rest of the time packing chatting about stupid normal things, bending, friends, our family. Funny times that made our sides ache. Neither of us brought up the war, avatars, failure, or the high chances of failure. For a few more hours we were just two Fire Nation circus children, a sister and brother.

When we were done packing the happiness faded away. I stood in front of Appa, staring up at the small pile of bags on his saddle.

"Aang," Dawa said, going to her knees, so she was slightly shorter than me. She took hold of my shoulders and forced a smile so fake and brittle it looked like it would fall apart any moment.

"Promise me that you won't die or get captured. I don't care if you stop Ozai, just promise me that... okay?" I could see the tears in her eyes, held back by sheer determination. I grinned.

"Kill me? Nah, come on sis, I'm the avatar. Nothing's going to hurt me,"

It was an act, and a bad one but she grabbed hold of it as her lifeline.

"Of course, who could imagine the incredible Avatar of Air could be defeated? I shouldn't have doubted you," she stood, pressing a kiss to my forehead and stepped back. I swept my hands backwards, pushing myself up onto Appa with a strong gust of air. Turning back I waved with a brilliant grin on my face.

"Yip-yip," I called, snapping the reins and sending Appa into the air.

As the circus slowly shrunk, I looked back. My sister's small form waving, then falling to the ground.

The muffled sound of her sobs echoed in my mind for miles as I left the only home I had ever known towards an uncertain future.

* * *

_**READ TO AVOID CONFUSION** _

_A/N:This story, my new Avatar story, it is a co-written story between myself and Ink_ spillz _. Here I will talk about the most important things to understand in this story to avoid confusion (don't worry this will not ruin the story or give spoilers) as this story is a slight AU it is important that this information is understood by the readers._

_There are four essential things to know for this story. First of all, it will be updated on a bi-weekly basis every other Saturday. Secondly, while I do not intend to make it similar to Change the World, I am the same author writing it (Ink-Spillz and I are working on the storyline, plot ideas, and characterization, as well as editing it together but all the raw writing is mine) as such there will be similarities. Also, the primary five 'deities' that appeared in Change the World are still real but will be playing more minor roles. No, you don't have to have read Change the World to enjoy this story. Finally, for those of you who have watched Legend of Korra, this story is only recognizing Korra as a person. Any facts or things canonized in LOK are to be forthwith ignored for the duration of this story._

_(For those of you who are wondering, that is part of the reason I left Change the World, I was initially planning on running the series into LOK but eventually got really angry with some of the things they canonized which directly went against elements canonized by ATLA, and I couldn't keep heading in that direction.)_

_Finally here is the altered timeline that will give you an idea of what has been happening from the point of divergence (the avatar who replaces Aang) to the point of divergence. Please read it so that there will be no confusion, especially as I use the names of_ canon _characters in place of three of the avatars who failed._

_(BC refers to before Sozin's comet, AC refers to after Sozin's comet)_

_12 BC - Avatar Roku dies and Avatar Tenzin (the air bender who replaces Aang in this story) is born_

_10 BC - Fire Lord Sozin makes the first colony Yu Dao_

_0 AC - Day of Comet's Arrival: Fire Lord Sozin attacks the air temples killing thousands, but leaving the air nomads and survivors from the temples_

_1 AC - Avatar Tenzin is killed in an ambush set for air nomads_

_Avatar Korra is born to the Southern water tribe_

_17 AC - Avatar Korra begins to retaliate against the fire nation_

_18 AC - twenty years of war The firenation is starting to struggle. Sozin orders for the brightest minds to be brought to the palace to be educated so as to end the plight._

_19 AC - Avatar Korra heads to the mainland to learn Earthbending_

_\- the firenation creates plows and aqueducts_

_21 AC - Firelord Sozin declares that women may join the military and that all women must take up a career/job_

_25 AC - the first form of ballistic attacks (ie. the catapult) is created_

_39 AC - Avatar Korra and her rebels are killed in a surprise attack on their base_

_Avatar Qui is born_

_41 AC - the firenation makes its first steam-powered boat_

_47 AC - the firenation makes its first metal boat that is powered by a motor._

_55 AC - Avatar Qui is captured and tortured by the Fire Nation_

_60 AC - Avatar Qui is brainwashed and used as a weapon of war_

_65 AC - the firenation makes its first 'tanks'_

_73 AC - Avatar Qui turns on her handler and is killed in the process_

_Avatar Kuzon is born_

_81 AC - Avatar Kuzon is ambushed, he kills himself and those who ambushed him_

_Avatar Aang is born_

_99 AC - Aang is 11 (his birthday will occur during the story)_

_With all that said, I'm glad to hear from you all again and hope you will enjoy this story._

_Falkyn's Flight Out._


	2. The Southern Water Bender

Aang's POV

The icy wind of the South Pole bit through my thin Fire Nation clothes. I shuddered, pulling closer to Appa and trying to use my air bending to keep the warm air from him close to me. It was a technique that my mother had taught me, but living in the fire nation I hadn't had much use to practice it. Now I was regretting not trying to practice it more often.

I had already been to three different villages and is far everything I had heard was the same. There were no more waterbenders in the South Pole, the Fire Nation had killed them all. That couldn't be true though, there had to be water benders here, the Fire Nation had missed airbenders living under their very noses. So there was no way that they had found every waterbender either.

Something moved in the corner of his eye, drawing my attention to a figure in blue and white. This was Another person from the southern watertribe. I almost passed them by until a small section of white snow shifted and flowed into the air and then fell again. Waterbender, excitement filled me, and I leapt from Appa.

I landed in the snow, wrapping wind around me to slow my decent, accidentally tossing a huge wave of snow over the other bender who yelped.

"Hi!" I chirped, grinning at the girl who was shaking the snow off of her parka with a slightly annoyed expression.

"What was that?" She asked, brushing the last of the snow from her shoulders and knocking her hood off with the motion. I blinked. She was pretty, with dark brown skin like the oiled wood that held up the big tent. Her eyes were a brilliant blue, matching the colour of her parka well.

"What was what?" I said, tilting my head.

"How did you-" she was cut off by Appa landing behind me, sending up another plume of snow to cover us.

"Do that," she finished, groaning and beginning to brush snow from her parka again. I flushed, momentarily wanting to deny that anything happened at all but stopped myself. I was officially the Avatar now, I didn't need to hide my bending anymore.

"Oh, sorry, let me help you," I said, thrusting my arms forward, willing a gust of air to clean the snow off of her. The girl stared at me, mouth wide.

"You're an air bender," she realized. I nodded.

"And you're a waterbender," I added. She shifted, looking nervous.

"Yeah, but no one is supposed to know that,"

"No one is supposed to know I'm an airbender either, so we're even," I said. Her eyes widened, and then she smiled and held out her gloved hand.

"I'm Katara,"

"Aang," I said, taking Katara's hand. Appa groaned behind me, and I turned towards him.

"And that's Appa," Katara eyed him nervously but nodded.

"So what are you doing here? I thought Airbenders were extinct?" Katara said, beginning to walk. I followed even though I had no idea where we were going.

"Well... it's a long story," I admitted, rubbing the back of my neck with a sheepish grin. Katara frowned but didn't press. Instead, she turned.

"You and… Appa? Are probably tired and cold. My village isn't too far from here, we can go together. Get you something to eat, then you can tell us what you're doing here," she suggested. I nodded.

Katara set the pace, striding over hard packed ice and drifted snow with ease. I could tell she had been raised here in the south, the confidence in her walk even when the snow came up to her waist was her testament. I tried to hide the shiver that ran through me, being this far from Appa was making me doubly aware of how cold it was here.

"Is your master in the village?" I asked her, jumping and air bending myself over a large snow drift, then waiting for her on the other side. She slowed only to gape at my bending then shake her head and continue on.

"Why do you want to know?" her eyes narrowed. She was suspicious of me, but I didn't know why. I opened my mouth to lie, the usual response but stopped. There wasn't any reason to lie anymore. My family was safe in the fire nation, no one could track me to them from here. Besides, I had come all this way for one reason, I might as well be honest.

"I'm looking for a water bending master to teach me,"

Katara stopped again, I watched as her expression moved from confusion to dawning realization and then excitement.

"You're the Avatar!" she said, picking up the pace and running to me, blue eyes alight. I blinked. I hadn't been expecting this reaction from anyone. Most people remembered the failures of the past avatars and wouldn't be excited to see another one. Another failure who would attempt to pit themselves against the fire nation only to be extinguished.

"Yeah, I am," I agreed. Slowly her excitement slipped from her face, becoming more serious.

"I'm sorry, I… I don't have a water bending master. I'm the last water bender in the whole south pole,"

There was a beat of silence, only the arctic wind blowing still loose snow across the packed ground made a noise, the gentle whss-whss of wind allowed to go where it willed.

"Are you sure?" I asked. I had to be sure that she was right, that she really was the last. It seemed laughable that she was, that after a hundred years of trying to end the air benders, the line of Sozin had succeeded in killing all but one southern water-bender.

"The fire nation stopped coming a little while ago because they thought they had killed the last waterbender. If they knew I was still here they'd come for me too," Katara said, looking down at her gloved hands.

"If there are any other water benders they won't reveal themselves to anyone,"

I groaned.

"So I have to go to the northern water tribe," I muttered.

_But now you don't have to go alone._

I looked up at the girl in front of me. Just like me, she would need a water bending master, and she was excited to meet the Avatar. Would I find anyone else like that? Probably not.

"Come with me," I said, leaning forward and catching her gloved hands in mine.

"I need to find a waterbending master, so do you. We can go to the north together," Katara froze, glancing at me.

"Look! There's my village!" she said, pointing. I turned, excitement coursing through me. Without thinking, I tore past Katara to skid to a halt at the entrance of the village, only to be met by disappointment. This water tribe village was no better off than the previous ones I had been to, a poorly made wall of snow with a few drooping towers that couldn't possibly support a person. Tents made of animal hide and bone littered the middle of the area and no more than thirty people, all women, and a few children.

"Hey wait up," Katara said, gasping as she slowed to a stop beside me, I glanced back, the tracks in the snow let me know that she had taken off running as well. I forced a smile in her direction.

"This place is… nice," I said. In my mind visions of the busy paved streets of the fire, nation played in my mind. How could anyone live like this? A shout drew my attention. A boy a little older than Katara came storming up, a boomerang in hand.

"Katara, who is this?" the boy said. He was glaring at me, fist clenching around the weapon in his hand.

"Sokka, this is Aang. Aang, this is my brother Sokka," Katara said, gesturing to each of us as she said our names. Sokka did not look impressed by the introduction.

"Where are you from? You're clearly not water tribe," he said the boomerang at my neck. I winced but didn't move away, glancing at the weapon pointed at me.

"Are you a Firenation spy?" he asked, his face almost touching mine, blue eyes narrowed. Ice formed inside me as I stared at him. If I told them the truth I might be killed, they didn't need to know the truth about myself or my family.

"Firenation? What's the fire nation? I've never heard of it," I stuttered. Sokka gave me a blank expression. That was stupid, I told at myself, I'm going to look even more suspicious now. Katara sent me a weird look but shook herself out of it.

"He's not a fire nation spy Sokka! He's the avatar!" Katara said excitement returning to her. She was almost bouncing at the concept. Sokka frowned at me.

"You're too young to be the avatar, besides the most recent two avatar's worked with the fire nation-"

"That is not true!" I shouted, glaring at Sokka. He knew nothing about the past avatars. Within me, four others bristled and spat at the accusation. How dare he? How dare he!

"The avatar of earth was kidnapped and brainwashed against her will and the avatar of fire killed himself eleven years ago so that the same thing wouldn't happen to him!" I snapped. Sokka looked surprised at the intensity of my response.

"Okay, okay, I'm sorry. I didn't know… I hadn't heard that the avatar of fire died," he admitted. I huffed.

"So that means you're the avatar of air?" Sokka asked. I nodded numbly, still fighting the warring emotions that spun inside me.

"Yeah," I admitted. There was a moment of silence then Sokka sighed.

"You can come into my tent, you look like you're going to freeze to death," he sighed, gesturing towards one of the smaller tents. I shivered and quickly kept pace with him, slipping into the tent and sighing as warmth washed over me. It wasn't that much warmer, but at the moment it was a miracle. I was beginning to believe that a cold day in the firenation was far warmer than the hottest day here.

Scooting closer to the small metal container that held fire I warmed my hands, admiring the metal work. Sokka must have traded something substantial to get this, I thought. A blue cloth was thrown over my head.

"Here, you're going to need this," Sokka said. I pulled it off and smiled. It was a parka, it was smaller than Sokka's current one, he had probably outgrown it and been unable to pass it on to one of the children in the village.

"So how are you the avatar of air? Did you just start air bending one day or something?" Sokka asked as I pulled the parka over my head, sighing at the warmth.

"I'm curious about that too, aren't all air benders dead?" Katara added, sitting down next to her brother. I shook my head.

Remember, only tell them the truth that will get them on your side, don't explain the full situation. They don't need to know where you were raised or about your father and sister. Not yet anyway.

"My mom and grandparents are airbenders too. Despite what the fire nation says, they didn't kill all air benders a hundred years ago, just most of them," I explained. Sokka looked interested in that fact, cradling his chin with two fingers.

"So the fire nation lied, or maybe they just didn't know that some air benders escaped," he mused. I shrugged.

"Either way, that isn't what matters, we figured out I was the avatar because I accidentally bent a tiny bit of another element," I explained, the memory playing in front of my eyes.

_I was six years old and had already been bending air for over three years. I was progressing well under my mother's teachings. Meanwhile, my sister was excelling at her advanced fire bending techniques. She was learning how to control her fire enough to turn the flames into shapes. It was a famous trick but practically useless except for entertainment purposes. She was working on creating one of the most popular forms, a dragon made of fire. Like I had been doing since I was old enough to walk I was mirroring her bending forms._

_A tiny spark, barely large enough to light a candle flew from my fist. At first, I didn't think anything about it until I accidentally bent another one, this one slightly more substantial._

_"Dawa! Dawa! Look! I can be a fire bender too!" I had shouted, making her pause her bending to show her my new skill._

_Dawa had panicked, understanding the implication that I had been unable to back then. From that point on I was not allowed to watch my sister or anyone else practice_ firebending _. I had to keep up the same pretend truth that I was a non-bender, just like my mother._

"So you've mastered airbending?" Sokka asked. I nodded.

"Then why are you here?"

"I was looking for a water bending master, then I found Katara, so maybe both of us could go to the north together?"

"You want to take my sister all the way to the North Pole!" Sokka said, shooting to his feet. I flushed but nodded.

"Yeah, but only if she's okay with it," I said, turning to look at Katara who was refusing to meet my eyes.

The tent flap was thrown open, letting in a gust of cold air. An old woman stood in the entrance, her expression cold.

"I'm sorry Avatar, but you will have to go to the North on your own," she said. Katara shot to her feet.

"Gran-gran! That's not fair," she snapped. I quickly stood as well, both hands raised to show I meant no harm.

"Like I said, it's up to Katara, I'm not going to force her," I tried to explain. The old woman turned her focus back to me.

"I cannot allow you to take my granddaughter, even if she agrees. You should understand that four other avatars have all tried to fight the fire nation and failed and the people supporting them have been killed. Now you suggest I allow my grandchild to risk the same fate?" she shook her head, grabbing Sokka's shoulder and Katara's wrist.

"You will have to do this on your own,"

Anger that wasn't my own exploded from me. I gasped sensing the blue light creeping in on the edges of my vision. I tried to fight it off but instead was thrust into the back of my own mind.

Three people waited in various positions where a meadow and forest met. This had been one of the regular camping spots for the circus and one of my favourite places to play. Further into that forest had been where I had met Appa for the first time, the baby bison badly hurt from a fight with another animal.

On a rock sat a boy a little older than me, he wore orange and had a blue arrow tattoo on his bald head. He sat in a typical meditation pose, but his eyes were open. Beside him a girl in her late teens stood, brown eyes and hair complimented by a simple green dress. The final person was a young man with shaggy black hair, yellow eyes and an outfit made from a combination of red, black, and maroon. These were the avatars who came before me, the ones I had contact with since I was a child. These were the people who were always with me, who had helped me when I was in trouble, who comforted me when I was sad. They were also the ones pushing me to do my duty, to face and defeat the same enemy that they had been unable to overcome. The Firenation. My nation.

Alarm filled me, one of them was missing. Spinning I could see her storming past me, blue parka swaying from movement. Her hair let loose to hang in a ponytail and strands in the front billowing. Hints of her dark skin could be seen, and I could easily imagine the determined expression on her face, blue eyes hard with anger.

"Korra! Wait don't!"

I was too late.


	3. Avatar Korra

Katara's POV

My eyes widened as Aang's eyes began to glow blue. The avatar state, I had heard legends of it. When the avatar became too emotional, before becoming fully realized they could trigger the avatar state and access the past knowledge. But I had never even heard legends of this.

The blue light from his eyes wrapped around his body. Then the light exploded, I closed my eyes, bracing with one hand.

When I opened my eyes, Aang wasn't there anymore.

Instead, a woman in her early thirties stood. She wore a blue parka with equally blue eyes. Her skin was dark and her hair even darker pulled into a ponytail, and the front pulled into two strands.

"How dare you," She snarled, one hand reaching towards my gran-gran. I blocked her, stepping in the way of her hand. Her blue eyes met mine, and we glared at each other.

"Where did Aang go?" Sokka asked, a mix of confusion and anger in his voice and expression. The woman straightened

"Fine. I'm Korra, the second avatar after the comet. Avatar of water, yadda, yadda, yadda," she waved her hand dismissively, as though what she was saying was a useless formality.

"You're one of Aang's past lives," I realized.

"That's not the point right now," Korra snapped, turning her attention back to my gran-gran.

"I'm sure you've heard of me, and my failure. Then you know that my rebels and I were taken out in our stronghold. That wouldn't have happened if I had gotten the support of multiple earth-kingdom cities. Instead, all I had was a small portion of the water tribe and an even smaller portion of the earth kingdom," she gritted her teeth and took a step forward. Sokka quickly stepped between her and gran-gran, arms outstretched.

"What's your point?" My brother asked. Korra glances at him briefly before turning her attention to me.

"The only reason I got as far as I did was because of the little support I had. The time has long passed for the belief that the avatar can achieve anything. The avatar is simply one person, at most they have the strength of a small battalion. If Aang is to succeed where I and those who came after failed, then he needs as much support as he can get." Korra paused, and her eyes met mine, and for a moment they were far kinder than I had expected.

"Despite your lack of training I can tell that you will be a great asset to Aang, he needs you and your support if he is to succeed. Just like you need him if you want to be a real waterbender,"

My stomach felt like I had just fallen through thin ice, plummeting into the ocean. I swallowed. Korra was right, I would never manage to master waterbending if I stayed here. Most people had already mastered their element by the time they reached adulthood, but here I was, soon to be a woman in the eyes of the tribe… and I hadn't.

That knowledge hurt, especially because I knew she was right.

"That does not give either you or him the right to take my grandchildren," my gran-gran snapped. I looked up at Korra, the woman was staring at my brother now, a strangely wistful expression on her face. Gran-gran's words snapped her out of it, and Korra met gran-gran's eyes.

"It's not up to you, it isn't even up to me. It's up to them," she said sharply. She turned her attention back to Sokka and me.

"If you want to support Aang, it's up to you. But if you don't support him, you need to realize that you're not going to achieve anything,"

"What's that supposed to mean!" Sokka shouted, losing his temper. I just felt shame, she was right, because of course, she was. If anyone understood my life, she did.

Korra opened her mouth to speak again when her eyes began glowing again, and with a flash of light, Aang was standing there with a frustrated expression on his face.

"Sorry, Korra shouldn't have said that I can make her apologize," he bowed, one hand pulled into a fist and the other straight, slightly resting on one side of that same fist. It seemed as natural as breathing for him.

Gran-gran huffed and stormed out, ignoring Aang's gesture.

"Dude, don't ever do that again," Sokka said, then quickly followed after gran-gran. Aang looked up then straightened.

"Do I want to know what she said?" he asked nervously. Katara winced.

"Probably not,"

We fell into an awkward silence, the sound of the villagers talking in the background the only thing drowning.

"She's done this before?" I asked, surprised. Aang smiled lightly.

"Well, usually it's Kuzon who jumps in whenever I'm in danger. Korra's the one who takes my body for joyrides," he admitted. I gaped. I couldn't imagine what that would be like, to be able to lose control of my body like that.

"Joyrides? Like what?" I asked, curiosity getting the better of me.

"Well, last time she did this she ate six bowls of udon and took off without paying the noodle guy. I was sick afterwards," he added.

"Seriously?"

"Yeah, she hadn't used the Avatar state that time either so she still looked like me… my parents got so mad,"

I laughed with him, the image not fully able to form in my mind, but what I could imagine was funny. As the laughter died down, I took a breath, still holding my sides.

"So what are you going to do now?" I asked

"The only thing I can do. I guess I have to go to the North Pole. You can still come with me if you-"

"Yes," the words left from my mouth before I could really consider what I was saying. Not that I needed to, Korra had already convinced me.

Great!" Aang grinned, his smile lighting up his whole face.

The sound of shouts and crashing ice wiped the smile from his face. We hurried out of the tent in time to see a fire nation ship breakthrough my brother's snow wall and stop.

Dread pooled in my chest and fear spread up my heartbeat. A fire nation ship.

Aang dragged me behind the tent, his own eyes wide.

"What's happening," I whispered, but Aang shushed me.

We stayed hidden as several Fire Nation soldiers began picking their way through the tents, dragging people inside them out. From our left two were approaching and I realized that we were about to be spotted. Aang grabbed me by the back of the neck and dragged me into a tent that had already been checked.

"It's okay, they're here for me, not you," he whispered. I took a deep breath, trying to calm my racing heartbeat. He squeezed my hand, I blinked in surprise.

"That doesn't make this better," I whispered, still shaking slightly.

Aang smiled, but this time it looked fake.

"I'm going out there to see what's going on," he said.

"Not without me," I replied.

He nodded, and the two of us slipped out of the tent and slid closer to the commotion in front of the boat.

"The Avatar isn't here," gran-gran was saying. I felt a surge of pride, she might not like Aang, but my gran-gran wasn't going to just hand him over to the Firenation.

"You might not even know they're the Avatar yet," a teenager with a large scar was saying "they would only be around eleven or twelve years old. A child who can waterbend, or maybe even airbend?" he said.

"He's looking for you Aang," I whispered. Aang nodded, but his eyes were focused on the scene in front of him.

"And as I said before, none of our children have been benders for over two decades. You won't find what you're looking for here," gran-gran said.

Someone looked down from the deck of the ship. I couldn't make out his features but when he spoke it was clear that he was an ageing man.

"Prince Zuko have you seen my Mahjong tiles? They've been missing since this morning,"

"General Iroh," Aang gasped. Before I could ask who this general was and why Aang was excited to see him. Aang launched himself past me and through the crowd of water tribe villagers and fire nation soldiers and into the ship itself.

There was silence before the fire nation made a mad scramble into the ship, shouting orders and nearly forgetting at least two spears.

We were left standing where we were, left behind and confused. Then my brother spoke, summarizing the thoughts of every tribe member very well.

"What the heck was that."

* * *

Aang's POV

General Iroh was a powerful force, I had no doubt about that. His fire bending prowess had only been matched by people in legend… and his niece who surpassed all tales from legend. But this wasn't about the Princess Azula, it was about Iroh.

The rightful Firelord.

Tearing through the ship I worked my mind, hoping that maybe where General Iroh would be would come to me. No such luck. Wincing I decided to just go with the tried and true method of opening every single door I saw.

I turned a corner and screeched to a halt. General Iroh stood at the end of the hall, his arms crossed.

"When I saw you rush into the ship I suspected it… not many watertribe children would tear into a Firenation warship for an old fat man," he laughed jovially, but his eyes were sharp. The great general who breeched Ba Sing Se. Father of one of the most well-loved members of the royal family in generations. The crown prince, the dragon of the west, the titles that he was known for were many. He was known for travelling the fire nation with his son, to learn about the people.

I wondered if he remembered me… probably not, that was a long time ago.

I took a deep breath.

"I am the Avatar, and I know you respect the spirits, General Iroh,"

"Not just the Avatar, you're Firenation. You walk like an untrained firebender," Iroh noted, "which means you're an Airbender unless we somehow ended up with a water bender born on our shores," he laughed again. I smiled tensely. He had figured that out quickly. There was a shout from down the hall, and Iroh promptly opened a door and gestured to it.

"Unless you want my nephew to attempt to capture you I suggest we go in here and continue the conversation,"

I nodded and walked in, turning and waiting as Iroh followed me.

He shut the door, the red glow from the lanterns showed this place to be an almost empty storeroom. He sat down on a box and waited. I didn't sit. Instead, I pulled myself to my full height. Here was my chance to end the war.

"You respect the spirits," I reaffirmed. Iroh nodded, his smile beginning to fall from his face.

"And I'm the Avatar which means that I'm the…. the… speaker of the spirits?" I said, wincing internally. I knew the Avatar was essential to the spirits but not how.

 _You could have just asked me instead of opening your mouth_  Tenzin pointed out.

_Wait, you've known about all the spiritual stuff, and you haven't told me yet?_

_You just got started! I didn't know that you'd need to know any of this! Besides, it's not like I actually got to do any of it for real. I only lived to be fourteen!_  Tenzin nearly shouted. Aang pretended he hadn't heard Korra laughing at both of them as Iroh corrected him.

"The bridge between us and the spirits,"

"Right! The bridge… and as the bridge… guy… Iwantyoutotakeoverasfirelord," the last part was so mushed together that I wasn't sure if my past four lives understood me, and they know me better than everyone.

There was a long silence, and for a moment I thought that I would have to repeat myself. Finally, Iroh spoke.

"I understand that as a child raised in my nation that you would want this war to end as much as I do. But you do not understand the precarious situation that we are in. I cannot fight my brother, Avatar. No matter how badly you or anyone might want this war to end,"

The red light from the lanterns seemed to grow cold. I closed my eyes. Trying to erase the image of Iroh's solemn and resigned expression.

"Why?" I asked. I felt sick, why couldn't Iroh fight Ozai? What could the man who was responsible for prince Lu Ten's death, for Firelord Azulon and Princess Ursa's ends hold over him? Was he scared for his own life? Didn't his nation matter more than his fear? Didn't he deserve justice for his family's deaths?

"Despite how you might see our nation, not everyone sees the world as we do. My brother has as many if not more supporters than I do, and if I were to attempt to fight him… my nation, our nation might not survive. No, since the dawn of time it has been for the Avatar and the young to decide our future. But I… I can not be the Firelord, not without Mitsuko, not without Lu Ten," He closed his eyes and shook his head.

"No, Avatar. My nephew, Zuko, if anyone is right to take the throne from Ozai, it's him. He just doesn't see it yet,"

I didn't understand, I couldn't understand. It didn't make sense. How would taking his brother's place, his rightful place cause the fire nation to die?

But I realized that this was the end of the conversation. Quietly I bowed and slipped out of the door.

My mind was spinning, and my past lives were for the first time in several hours entirely silent. I slipped through the ship in a daze. Iroh, the man who would forever hold my admiration… a man who I wanted to be before I had learned what being the Avatar really meant. Had said no.

Which meant that I was going to have to take on this war myself, and risk my life.

I swallowed and slid out of sight as a group of soldiers stormed past me.

I felt hollow inside like something had scooped out my emotions. I leaned against the cold iron and sighed.

A shout started me out of the daze. I turned, freezing as my eyes locked onto a teenager with a red scar on his face, the same one from earlier.

I didn't stick around to see what was going to happen, I booked it. Taking a deep breath I pushed the air behind me, giving me a speed boost that nearly shot me into the wall at the end of the passageway.

Shouts from elsewhere let me know that this was officially a chase. I grabbed the small whistle that I always kept around my neck, and put it to my lips, preparing to blast it the second I opened the door to the deck. Maybe I could jump to a nearby iceberg while I waited for Appa to get me.

I really hadn't thought this through had I?

As I blasted through the door that led to the deck, I blew in the whistle, using air bending to add far more strength and power than usual. Appa would know what to do, this was the whistle that I had used with my uncle to teach the animals in the circus tricks and cue them in ways that the audience would never be able to hear.

I hoped that he would be able to get to me in time, but I had no promise that this would work.

I might have just gotten myself captured before I could even master a second element.

_Guys, I need your help._

_I got this_  Kuzon, the avatar of fire said. I spun, backing across the deck, and waiting for my pursuers to appear. Not that it took long.

No less than seven firebenders charged through the door. I swallowed nervously than forced a big smile.

"I bet none of you have ever fought an airbender before! I bet I can take you," While I bluffed I looked over at the icebergs that were surrounding us. While I had been searching for Iroh, the captain or leader of this ship, the guy who was trying to capture me must have ordered to move away from land. That wasn't a huge deal, what was a big deal was the fact that all the icebergs around us were too tall for me to be able to reach the top without flying.

Airbending doesn't allow people to fly. I remembered my mother's soft words. When I had discovered, I was an airbender I had been determined to follow the birds into the sky, but my mother had put a quick end to that after I had thrown myself off of a cliff and nearly broken my leg from the fall.

We stood in silence and for a moment I thought that my bluff had actually worked, that they were too nervous to fight an unknown to actually try.

I was wrong of course.

Two of the soldiers mustered their courage and charged, fire spewing from their hands. Ironically I didn't need Kuzon for this. I jumped, twisting the air around me and dragging the flames around and behind my body.

The sound of a bison groaning nearly distracted me. I blew into the whistle again, almost getting caught across the side by a fire bender who had tried to circle me. I hit the ground, eyes widening and sped backwards.

Over one of the icebergs, Appa came, on his back two tiny forms wearing blue. Katara but who was the other one? I didn't have time to think about it, another blast of fire nearly knocking me off the boat. I yelped and threw myself to the left and forward.

Accidentally ramming into the body of angry scar guy.

"Aang!" Katara's voice echoed against the walls of ice to either side of me. I glanced up, as Appa descended, throwing several firebenders to the sides of the ship.

I didn't question it, I didn't have time. I lunged onto his tail and shouted.

"yip-yip!"

With that we were off, leaving the ship, firebenders, and Iroh behind.

I crawled onto Appa's back surprised to find Katara's brother sitting there with her.

"Thanks,"

"No problem, although, just saying if the Avatar is stupid enough to willingly run onto a Firenation Ship, I really doubt that he's going to win the war," Sokka snapped, his voice rising to a shout. I winced.

"I'm sorry, there… there was something I had to do," I paused then looked between them.

"Why did you decide to come?"

"I wasn't going to leave my sister," Sokka replied with a shrug. Katara blinked then smiled.

"Because... well Korra was right Aang, you're going to need all the help you can get if you want to win this war. That and... I don't want to keep going like this, I want to master waterbending and if I'm going to do that, then I need a teacher. You're the only one who can do that,"

I smiled lightly. True, they were here for their own reasons, but it didn't matter. I wasn't alone.

_You never were going to be_

* * *

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Aang doesn't have his glider because they are too noticeable and as such were abandoned and the knowledge of how to make them lost.
> 
> Mitsuko is the name I chose for Iroh's wife
> 
> If you looked at the timeline you will have noticed that Korra and Qui (the two female avatars) both lived to be around 30-40, while Tenzin and Kuzon both died as teenagers.
> 
> I have a full reason for why Aang is so interconnected to his past four lives which will be revealed later in the story, as will his connection to Iroh. Unlike in the series we have both decided that the prosperity of the Firenation is simply unrealistic for a war that has gone on for 100 years, even if they are technically the victors so far, it doesn't matter which side you are on, wars, especially ones that drag on for so long, do not leave countries with as much wealth and prosperity as the show tries to suggest that the Firenation has.
> 
> \- Falkyn's Flight and Inkspillz


	4. The Truth Comes Out

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey Everyone sorry for the late update, I've been trying to post on my FF account but I seem to be blocked. I have tried every possible combination of my username and reset my password. I'm coming to the conclusion that either someone is trying to tell me something or I am unable to pass the 'are you a robot' test which is hugely annoying considering I AM A PERSON. 
> 
> So until this issue is fixed I'll just be updating on here for the time being.  
> Thanks for your patience,  
> Falkyn's Flight

Sokka’s POV

Sitting in the back of Appa’s saddle while the bison flew and tried to wrap my mind around the mystery that was Aang.

The eleven-year-old was the Avatar, and I didn’t doubt that after he dragged Korra back from the spirit world. No, it was his nationality that was the mystery. Sure, I knew nothing about Air Nomads, but I did know a lot about the Fire Nation, and that was where my confusion came in.

First of all, Aang was an Earth Kingdom name. I knew that because one of the Earth Kingdom traders who came to our village was named Aang. Of course, since most Air Nomads were wiped out, they had to blend in, so the Earth Kingdom name made sense.

No, what didn’t make sense was the Fire Nation metal and leatherwork that made Appa’s saddle. After all, what other nation had black oiled leather?

Then there was his clothes and supplies. Most of his stuff was well-used, but all his clothes were black grey, brown and burgundy. Only one of those was a typical Earth Kingdom colour.

Actually, why was it that each nation only wore the colours of their element?

Not important, the issue was Aang.

But if Earth was green and brown, Fire red and black water blue and grey, what was air?…

What colours would air be anyway?

Well, they represented freedom, right? And the air has no colour…

I groaned out loud, frustrated I now couldn’t figure out either puzzle presented to me. Katara glanced at me, curiously. She had given herself the job of sorting all of our belongings and figuring out how much supplies we had.

“What’s wrong?” she asked, putting aside a bag so that she could move closer to me. I huffed, then explained.

“Listen, I just don’t know what to think of this guy okay? The only nation that he clearly doesn’t come from is the Water Tribes.”

“He’s an Air Nomad, he’s probably from the Earth Kingdom. It would make the most sense that the Airbenders would hide there,” Katara reasoned, but she glanced at Aang after saying that. She wasn’t sure, there was a doubt there. I could work with that.

“Probably doesn’t mean he is though, for all we know he could be from the Fire Nation!” I whisper-hissed at her. Aang didn’t seem aware of our conversation. Although how he was keeping himself interested over water as far as the eye could see was anybody's guess. Maybe he was talking to his previous lives since he seemed to be able to access their knowledge whenever he wanted.

“You really think that the Avatar is a Fire Nation spy?” I had lost her. My sister was smirking at me with that look that she got whenever she felt superior. I hated that look. It guaranteed that she was going to stop listening to what I was trying to tell her.

“Look at his clothes, Appa’s saddle, and what about that weird bow he makes? Earth Kingdom people bow at the waist with their arms beside them, I’ve talked to enough traders to know that,” I snapped.

“What weird bow?” Katara and I both froze, turning to see Aang standing behind us. The boy was frowning, as he stood perched on the rim of the bison’s saddle. It made me nervous just seeing it. If he fell, that was the end of it.

“My brother thinks because you bow with your hands in front of you, that you’re a Fire Nation spy. Is it probably just something between Air Nomads right? A way to let someone know you’re an Airbender,” Katara asked. I slapped my forehead in exasperation. She literally just gave him an out. He could agree with her, and that would be it.

But Aang’s face fell, and he sat down, tucking one leg close to his body.

“How was I supposed to explain,” He asked no one in particular, “Dawa told me not to tell anyone the truth… but you’re… I’m supposed to trust you,” I glanced at Katara and realized that one of her hair loops had come undone, the strand flying behind her in the wind.

“You lied to us?” Katara asked. I could tell she was scared. Just like me, she realized that we didn’t really know this kid too well. We had trusted him because he was an Airbender that he was telling the truth, but if Aang had lied about one thing, then he could lie about more.

“No, not really… I just… didn’t tell you everything,”

“So tell us everything,” Katara challenged. Aang sighed deeply.

“As I said, I haven’t lied to you, I am the Avatar of air, and my mom’s side of the family are Airbenders. But…” he trailed off.

“I knew it! You are working for the Fire Nation!” I shouted, standing up and pointing at Aang. He froze then quickly shook his head.

“Sokka, no, I’m not. I was born and raised in the Fire Nation, my dad and sister are firebenders as if most of my family… but I don’t support Ozai.” He didn’t seem like he was lying, but there was one problem.

“Who the heck is Ozai?”

Aang looked as if I had just slapped him in the face with a fish. He stood there, gaping at me for the longest time.

“You don’t know who the Fire Lord is?” He managed, still looking thoroughly shocked.

I knew the word Fire Lord, he was the guy who was in charge of the whole Fire Nation, kind of like my dad for our tribe.

“I know that the Fire Lord is the leader of the Fire Nation, I didn’t know his name,” I pointed out. Aang nodded.

“So tell us about your family,” Katara asked, tucking the last of the supplies away, leaving room for Aang to properly join us on Appa’s saddle.

“Okay, well I guess to get you started I should let you know I’m a circus kid. My dad’s family has run and performed in a circus for generations, my mom married into the circus, but she performs now too,” Aang explained, his leg dropping down away from his chest as he explained. I had never heard the word circus before, so I had no idea what it was, but whatever it was, it was clearly something that Aang was proud of being.

“My family is pretty large, although not everyone in the circus is related to me; we do take up a lot of it. There’s me, my mom and dad, my sister, my three uncles, and my grandparents.” He listed each person off on his fingers, eyes distant.

“You have a sister?” I asked, surprised. I hadn’t expected Aang to have a sibling.

“Yep, Dawa, she’s a lot older than me and is supposed to take control of the circus after our dad goes into retirement,” Aang smiled, “she’s an amazing Firebender, she can make almost anything out of fire,”

I couldn’t imagine that. But I listened anyway.

“So what did you do at the… circus?” Katara asked. She was playing with her hairloopies idly and not meeting Aang’s eyes. I wondered what was going on in her mind. Then again, she was a girl, no one really knew what a girl was thinking.

“I help my uncle Mak with training animals, that’s why I always carry this around,” he stuck his hand down his shirt and pulled out a thin silver whistle.

“I use it to give cues to the animals, Appa was trained with it as well,”

“Why animal training?” Katara asked, glancing at Aang.

“Because I’m great with animals! Isn’t that right, Appa!”

The bison groaned loudly. I frowned, but it wasn’t like I could argue.

“Okay, so you’re a Fire Nation cirrus kid who trained animals with his uncle? And the Avatar?” I asked.

“It’s not like being the Avatar was a choice!” Aang blurted out, abruptly standing up. After a moment, he sighed and sat down again.

“So, yeah, that’s my life,”

I frowned. Sure, knowing about Aang’s life would have its uses, but the more significant issue was why a Fire Nation kid was supposedly turning on his own kind. I wasn’t stupid, it would take a lot to get me to turn away from my own tribe, even if they were murdering people and waging war on the rest of the world.

So the question was, what had gotten Aang upset enough to turn on his own people? Because despite his Airbending origins, it was clear that he was a Fire Nation citizen at heart.

“So why are you now suddenly against the Fire Nation?” I asked. Katara had fallen silent after Aang’s description of his family and was clearly thinking pretty hard. Which meant it fell to me to figure out whether he was lying or telling the truth.

“I told you, I’m not against the Fire Nation, I’m against Ozai,” Aang replied. He took a deep breath, moving his arms from shoulder level down to his stomach.

He was stressed then, good. It meant that I was going to get the truth out of him sometime today.

“Which means what? Considering the Fire Lord is in charge of the Fire Nation you might as well say that you’re fine with water, but you’re against ice,”

Aang’s eyes got wide, and he stood up.

“You want to know what I meant? Fine. I meant that I will never support someone who forces the poor to join the army and then doesn’t even bother to train them. I meant that I will never support someone who encourages that other elements are inferior. I meant that I will never, ever, support someone who thinks murdering their whole family so they can get the throne is just  
fine!”

I blinked. That was… surprisingly intense.

“He murdered his whole family?” Katara asked. There was an expression on her face that looked… that didn’t match the sister I knew and love. Some odd mix of victory and disgust.

Then I remembered her words, all those years ago.

“They’re pure evil Sokka, there’s not a single good Firebender in the world.”

I wondered if Aang realized that he had just reaffirmed my sister’s worst thoughts about the Fire Nation. Probably not, or he would have chosen a different way to express his opinion about the Fire Lord.

“Well, not officially. All the deaths were supposed to be ‘accidents,’ but my dad told me that there is no way that four members of the royal family all died within a month of each other,” Aang admitted.

Four. Four members of the royal family all dying within a month? I could see what Aang meant. Twice was a coincidence, three times was a trend. Four times? That was a fact.

“Who died?” I found myself asking. After all, with that many members of the royal family gone, it would only make sense that the Fire Nation would be weaker. Yet, there hadn’t been any signs of the war, even slowing down. Did the Fire Lord really not care that so many of his family had been taken out? If so, it certainly did seem like he would be the guilty party.

“Well, the first one to die was the heir to the throne, Lu Ten, crown prince Iroh’s son. Two days after the news was announced, Fire Lord Azulon died, and prince Ozai’s wife vanished. Then within a month prince, Iroh vanished as well. He did come back over a year later, but no one really knows what happened to him during that time. Most people think he went into hiding to avoid his brother killing him too,”

“That’s horrible,” Katara said, one hand over her mouth. At least she had lost the smug expression.

Something clicked for me.

“So you support the crown prince, Iroh, right? You want him to take the throne. Why? What would he do differently than his brother? Or are you only against Ozai because of what he’s done to your nation?” I challenged.

It certainly looked that way. Aang hadn't mentioned the other nations once during our conversation, he was more worried about how his own people were being treated. It wasn’t great, but at least it meant I could understand where he stood. The problem was I wasn’t sure that he would be interested in fixing anything else. If the stories about the Avatar were right, he wasn’t supposed to support any one nation.

Then again, the last four avatars had been a disappointment. At least I knew he was willing actually to try to do something. Whether he managed anything or not though…

I’d think about that later.

Aang didn’t seem upset about my accusation, though. Instead, he was reticent.

“How much do you know about the Avatar?”

Well, that was a weird question. And off topic. Was Aang trying to avoid answering me? Before I could answer, Katara began rambling, spilling every detail that she had been able to sneak behind Gran-gran’s back about the Avatar.

After our mother died, our world changed, but nothing changed as much as Katara. She would annoy the traders for hours trying to get every scrap of knowledge she could about the Avatar, past and present. She seemed to place all her hope that the Avatar would do what he had done in the past and fix the wrong in the world.

Gran-gran, in response, had forbidden everyone to say anything in regards to the Avatar to Katara. After our dad left, she became the one in charge of the tribe, making her word law. He still wasn’t sure why maybe gran-gran was trying to give her the fantasy that the Avatar really could do anything.

Maybe it was time someone told Katara the truth about the Avatar.

“That the last four Avatars all failed, and one was working for the Fire Nation as a weapon,”

The sky went silent at my words. Aang closed his eyes and took a deep breath.

“Qui was seventeen when the Fire Nation captured her. They… they tortured her for months before she broke. She didn’t want to do what she did. So no, I’m not just doing this for my people. Sokka,” he looked up, and his hazel eyes met my blue ones, “I communicate with the past four avatars, the failures, every single day. They help me guide me. I’m not going to promise I’m going to win this war Sokka,” He closed his eyes and looked away, a pained expression crossing his face.

“But I’m going to do everything I can to end it,”

* * *

Later that night, I stared up at the sky. Katara had refused to talk to me after our little conversation with Aang. I knew why. She had never found out about the Avatar of Earth, Qui, Aang had called her. Finding out an Avatar had been twisted into the enemy’s hands was something that went against everything that she had believed.

Not that I trusted Aang fully yet either, sure, he might seem to have good reasons, but that didn’t mean they weren’t a ploy. Until I see him in action, acting as he said, then I wasn’t going to trust him fully. I couldn’t for my sister. For my people. I was the one who would have to hold that boy accountable.

And strangely, I couldn’t wait to see what he’d do.


	5. Author's note

Ink and I are going to rewrite this story, since as much as I liked the idea of past avatar's being in Aang's head, I've realized that it really doesn't write well, as Ink wasn't the biggest fan either. So I will be posting a new work document for the rewrite. I hope you guys will transfer over to the new version.

Thanks,

\- Ink and Falkyn


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